Tactile comfort properties of thermal protective clothing in static state

Abstract

Firefighters are always subjected to a complex mechanical load. It may be the weight of the heavy garment and equipments or the load accompanying deformation of clothing fabric to accommodate body movement. We evaluated the tactile comfort properties for protective clothing in static state. Tensile linearity (LT), shear stiffness (G), and bending rigidity (B) were very high compared with the fabrics for ordinary clothing. Since tactile comfort is also related with distribution of the applied load to the skin, pressure distribution of wearing thermal protective clothing and breathing apparatus was performed. The load was concentrated around the shoulder, and the phenomenon caused discomfort feeling and physical fatigue. Contacting area between fabric and the skin significantly increased with wearing the clothing, and total load remarkably increased in the step of wearing breathing apparatus. Pressure distribution was related with mechanical properties of the materials for thermal protective clothing.